About the author
Since I’m writing these words, I obviously survived this year’s Amsterdam Dance Event. Although.. wait. Who had no sleep and was almost dead after CLICK’s awesome sets at Westerunie? Yeah right, that must have been me. And I wasn’t the only one. Philipp Jung, one of the two faces behind M.A.N.D.Y. felt pretty much the same.
How does M.A.N.D.Y. cure a hangover?
Philipp Jung: “As silly as it sounds, you just have to continue partying. I only slept for one hour last night. At festivals like the ADE or Sonar you have to be prepared for some action. I’m used to being the last one to leave the club.”
How would you describe your after-hours to an ordinary mortal?
Philipp Jung: “Well, the nice thing about after-hours is that people imagine the wildest things to be happening. In fact, they’ll never know what’s really going on. I like the mysterious nature of after-hours.”
No chance you will share that secret?
Philipp Jung: “You know, what happens during after-hours stays there. I’d rather keep the mystery alive. I’m not going to tell you what I’m doing (laughs).”
Did you get to spend some of these notorious after-hours with other big DJs during the ADE?
Philipp Jung: “Actually I rather hang out with people from my own label. I think everyone of us has a crew he parties with and the other ones I get to see elsewhere. I run into Richie Hawtin in Berlin every once in a while. But all in all, we all party with our own groups.”
What does Amsterdam mean to you?
Philipp Jung: “I don’t smoke weed so I don’t care about all that, but what I really love is to walk through Amsterdam’s streets by night and look into people’s flats. I think that’s the most characteristic thing about Amsterdam, those fancy apartments in dimmed lights, with no curtains. It’s very charming.”
Where in the world do you live?
Philipp Jung: “I haven’t had a steady apartment for more than a year now. I’ve just been floating. I lived in Berlin for ten years and I love how the city is steadily evolving. The same goes for New York, where I like to hang out as well.”
It’s no lie that electronic music is analogous to drugs. There are many people who couldn’t enjoy a whole night of electronic music without taking them. What do you think about that?
Philipp Jung: “That’s a justified question. I think this whole thing is historically determined. Music has always been something spiritual and drugs have always been accompanying music and its rituals. Just look at aboriginal American tribes in Mexico or other tribes in the boon-docks. Drugs have always been used to experience music on another level. It’s like alcohol. You can use it or not. I know that a lot of people go completely wasted, but my mission is to perform for those who do and those who don’t. That’s something that’s not ever going to change I guess. It’s just part of the night.”
How do you deal with drunk groupies trying to climb into your DJ booth?
Philipp Jung: “To be honest, I don’t need any groupies. I don’t let them come up. I don’t want to judge anyone, but it’s indeed annoying. If I want to have someone in my booth, I have them. A lot of people actually don’t understand that what I’m doing is my job. It’s work.”
Even if they are extremely attractive?
Philipp Jung (grins): “I think I’m doing pretty good without them. I also did before I was a DJ.”
You landed a huge hit with Booka Shade in 2005: Body Language. It was played everywhere. When is M.A.N.D.Y. coming up with the next big thing?
Philipp Jung: “It would be great to get a project like that going again, but it’s not that easy. ‘Body Language’ with Booka Shade came out of the blue back then, it just happened to be huge. Once I had mixed it, I felt it was going to be a big deal. And I still remember that even crowds in Mumbai were going crazy when we played it. Things like that happen completely unplanned and I felt a lot of pressure to come up with something like that. I’m just waiting for a hit like that to fall into place.”
For those who missed M.A.N.D.Y. performing at CLICK during ADE this year, catch a glance here:
Feature image by De Fotomeisjes.
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